Created to comment on genetic enginering, the sculpture now symbolises the city’s maritime heritage

Feb 15 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

THE Superlambanana was originally created for the Artranspennine 98 festival, the largest art exhibition ever to be staged in Britain.

Artranspennine featured projects at 30 different sites between Liverpool and Hull – one of which was the Superlambanana.

Japanese artist Taro Chiezo based his work on some smaller sculptures, which he had exhibited in New York in 1994.

Working from a four-inch model provided by Chiezo, local man Andy Small was given the challenge of taking the design and increasing its size 50-fold.

Not only would the SLB be sizeable, it would also have to be comparatively light, transportable and resilient enough to withstand the elements.

Small and his team decided that the structure would be of hollow concrete, supported by steel and wire mesh, and stabilised with a foam-filled steel base.

When created in 1994, it was intended as an ironic comment on genetic engineering, but now in Liverpool has come to symbolise the city’s maritime heritage – the wool leaving the port and the fruit coming in.

“It’s an image for the future. We are planning for the future and this is a fusion of two things,” said the artist when it was unveiled in Liverpool in 1998.

The Superlambanana was made in the former Bryant & May matchworks, in Garston, by a team from Liverpool, before being transported to the Pier Head for a three-month stay.

Reaction was mixed, but the late poet Adrian Henri said it should be welcomed “with an open mind and, if needs be, a sense of humour”.

Miniature versions in a variety of colours and designs are now available to buy, and a version featuring artist Tony Brown’s famous image of the Liverpool Waterfront is due be launched this spring.